Many thanks to The Times for their third-of-a-page coverage of today's game. Or rather the trials and tribulations of Steve McNamara.

Five pages on the Union friendly.

you sound surprised?
this RLWC has exceeded expectations, but Rome wasn't built in a day...an England win in the final would be a start though

What I don't understand is why the BBC evening news sports bulletin, both last week & this lead with bloody England RU that has been shown on Sky & not the RLWC that they are showing! - well unless you live in Scotland like I do & they haven't bothered to show the England game today....

it's a harsh reality, but Union is across the nations conciseness whilst League is considered a northern sport......wrongly or rightly, that is the reality.

yes i agree, it might just push the RL coverage up to half a page

you brits like a winner almost as much as a plucky loser......England RL winning the RLWC would be front page news IMHO

Gf, I get that bit & I agree with you, but just pee's me off especially at the mo that union friendlies take centre stage over a WC by the broadcast partner.

Yet the [iTimes[/i is owned by Rupert 'Sky' Murdoch.

uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/rugb ... --spt.html

uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/rugb ... --spt.html

Just noticed that the England quarter final is confirmed for Saturday night on BBC2, great timeslot to have and it should get a big audience, particularly as an Ireland RU game is just before it.

I've not got the average, but the viewing figure for the England v Fiji match yesterday peaked at an excellent 2.29m. All three England games have had viewing figures over 2m.

There was a section on Points of View earlier with complaints that there was insufficient coverage of the World Cup (especially with regards the other home nations). The official reply from BBC Sport mentioned budget constraints but confirmed the England games had produced record TV audiences for rugby league.

As for next weekend, I'm not sure. Tough going up against the bohemoths of Saturday evening reality TV. A figure of 2m woud put it comfortably in the top 10 for the week for that channel which would be fantastic.

Budget constraints?

That's utter poppycock.

Six o'clock news earlier mentioned Scotland qualifying for the Quarter Finals, but that was it. No mention of why, how or the results that enabled them to qualify.

It was pathetic and seemed like it was just shoved in to fill 2 seconds.

England v Fiji got more or less the same viewing figures as Wales v south Africa on BBC 2. However, this didn't translate into the coverage on the news last night or this morning.

There should be an audit of what the BBC have paid for certain rights vs. their commercial value. Might free budget up for the rest of us!

What they pay for the 6 nations is ridiculous when a product like Rugby League (which is getting excellent viewing figures) comes at a fraction of the cost.